GERD is something that is becoming more common in people. There’s a good chance that you know someone that is battling GERD symptoms and taking medications. It might be that you are the one with GERD.

I struggled with GERD for about a year. I couldn’t even lie down for four hours without the terrible burning and pressure. My diet was the typical American diet and I felt all around rotten. Without insurance, prescriptions were out of the question. When I decided to eat more raw foods it cleared up very quickly. Within one week all of the symptoms were gone and to this day I haven’t even had the mildest acid-reflux. I decided to give a few tips on what I have found works to eliminate GERD and the nasty symptoms.

Overview of GERD

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition in which the stomach contents (food or liquid) leak backwards from the stomach into the esophagus. This action can irritate the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms.

Symptoms

Feeling that food is stuck behind the breastbone

Heartburn or a burning pain in the chest (under the breastbone)

Increased by bending, stooping, lying down, or eating

More likely or worse at night

Relieved by antacids

Nausea after eating

Bringing food back up (regurgitation)

Cough or wheezing

Difficulty swallowing

Hiccups

Hoarseness or change in voice

Sore throat

Risk Factors

Diet

Alcohol

Hiatal hernia

Obesity

Pregnancy

Scleroderma

Smoking

Remedies for GERD

Start by cutting out the things that make it worse. First, let’s cover diet. Coffee, alcohol, cooked tomatoes, chocolate, soda, foods cooked in oils are all culprits for acid reflux. Listen to your body with every meal to see what is aggravating your symptoms. It’s easiest if you eat more simple meals so you can isolate the problem. Food combining is a big digestion aggressor. Combining starches with proteins, like mixing potatoes, pasta and/or rice with meat and/or cheese. I know this is tough because those usually make some tasty meals but you will be much happier when stopping the improper food combinations.

Increase your fruits and vegetables. When you’re eating more raw foods you won’t have as many, if any, food combining problems. Try to incorporate more greens and fruits in your smoothies. Have a mixed green salad with some cranberries and dates in it. Use an apple cider vinegar dressing on top to help reduce the acids in your stomach. Try to not eat fruit after a meal. Since fruit is the fastest to digest it will sit on top of other food creating gas and acid.

It is important to not be constipated. The fruits and vegetables will help give you the fiber you need to pass what is in your digestive tract. The less meat and dairy you eat, the better for staying regular. You need the enzymes from the live foods to break it all down. Your body will have to work overtime if you give it food that doesn’t have the proper enzymes to help break it down.

Another key way to keep the acid away is to not fall asleep / lie down with a bunch of food in your stomach. Give yourself at least 3 hours before lying down, including watching tv. This is a tough one because we tend to have large, heavy dinners and usually very soon before turning in for the night. Try just having a green smoothie for dinner just for one week. This alone will make you feel amazing and you will wake up much happier and more energetic. You can try a large salad as well and make sure you chew fully to help your stomach with it’s job.

If you’re eating mostly raw food and you’re still having digestion problems, try to cut down on the fats. Eating a lot of nuts, seeds and avocados can be a little harder to digest. Adding more greens in will help this out quite a bit.

Conclusion

GERD can be completely controlled by diet. There are medications for it, but for most people those don’t fully help. The best way to fix this problem is to take a look at what we are eating. It’s also the hardest thing to do since we have been taught to not take responsibility for our own health.

These are the solutions that worked for me and others that I have talked to in the community. What kind of solutions have you found for this?

About the author

Joel Turner

Joel is a marketer and web developer with a background in graphic design and a thirst for outdoor adventures. Joel also brings his story of the effortless weight loss and boundless energy he enjoyed when he discovered a vegan diet. Find him on Google+ and Twitter

3 Responses to Healing GERD with Raw Foods

Marilena IfrimJune 22, 2012

Hello! I don’t have any solution for this, in fact i don’t know what to eat. I have GERD, hiatal hernia and gastritis and i’d like to know what to eat, but detailed please. If you could help me, because if you are not aloud, lemon, tomatoes, onions, garlic and anything is acid, what remains? And i need a lot of nutrients because my body fell down when I’m eating only vegetarian or raw food.
Could you help me please with some recipes, or a link where to find meals for GERD?
Thank you
Marilena Ifrim

Here is a great video that explains how food combining, certain foods, and timing can affect these conditions. These are all caused by the acidity in the body. By eating more raw, simple meals you can completely turn these around. As far as nutrition, you’ll want to make sure you’re eating a wide variety of leafy greens and fruits. Smoothies are great for this. Any dish you make should be fairly simple, meaning, not combining a lot of foods or adding refined foods. For recipes, I haven’t seen a site that has GERD specific recipes but goneraw.com has the most raw recipes I’ve found. When looking for recipes to perform, try not to do any with oils, dehydration or flours. It’s best to eat whole foods and only fruits and vegetables along with a lot of water. Also make sure that you exercise each day to keep the lymphatic system moving. Hopefully this helps!

In 2013, I was diagnosed with obesity, GERD, hiatal hernia, an ulcer, and high blood pressure. Oh, and due to the GERD and hiatal hernia, I had absolutely horrible bad breath! The ONLY thing that saved my life and completely eradicated my dragon breath was adopting a raw food diet and avoiding all processed foods, oils, sugars and fermented foods and condiments. Now I’m on my way to losing weight and I’m feeling healthier in the process (my BP is significantly lower and my reflux is nil…and I smell great, too.